A seascape, hold the peanut sauce.

Recently I went to the opening of the Alumni Show at UMass Dartmouth in which I'm exhibiting a piece.  I have to say, Swain and UMass graduated some great painters. It's just so nice to see a show with work that speaks for itself, without the need for headphones on the wall next to it. Afterwards some congenial friends and I repaired to a Thai restaurant where one of my friends pulled out a painting she won on ebay that, as good as the other ones were, was even better.  It was the painting featured in The Art of Painting 4 - The Seascape, Spicy.  What made it even more special was that we knew that the underpainting was The Art of Painting 3 -Nude Sleeping Angel Thomas Kinkade.  As we were admiring it the food arrived and I watched in horror, as if in slow motion, as the plate of Thai Pork with Peanut Sauce tilted in the waitress's hand, and the aforementioned Peanut Sauce poured onto the painting! But somehow I think Lily would have just rolled with it. A few quick wipes with a napkin and it was as good as new, maybe a little more spicy.

The next night I went an opening at the Newport Art Museum which was so packed with the Newport art crowd so it was hard to see the work. Eventually everyone crowded into one room to hear the announcement of the prizes, some which get you awarded show at the museum. As the prizes in painting dwindled away my remaining long-shot hope was Best of Show. Finally they announced it...."The best of show award goes to Kat—" That was it, just Kat. Oh well, you can't win them all!

Here are some of the studies I've been working on for my next series, then I'm off to draw another angle of the raccoon in all his taxidermied splendor.